Rome: Martina Hingis' return to tennis took a big step forward with a 0-6 6-3 6-3 win over Venus Williams to reach the Italian Open final.
It was Hingis' first win over Williams since the 2001 Australian Open semi-finals.
The five-time Grand Slam winner returned to the tour in January after sitting out nearly three years with foot and ankle injuries.
She said beating players like Williams was "definitely one of the reasons" why she returned.
Hingis improved to 11-10 in her career against Williams. She can claim her first title since returning if she beats 16th-seeded Dinara Safina in the final.
Her last title came more than four years ago, in Tokyo in 2002.
"It's all coming together before the French Open," Hingis said of Roland Garros, which begins May 29.
Safina beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6 6-4 7-5 in the semi-finals and will be aiming for the biggest victory of her career on Sunday.
Safina has won four minor titles in her career, but none of the nine ranked just below the four Grand Slams in importance, which includes the Italian Open.
Hingis won Italian Open in 1998, beating Williams in the final. A year later, Williams beat Hingis in the semi-finals en route to the title.
"It's amazing. I played her in the semi-finals (seven) years ago," Hingis said. "It's a great moment for me, I'm happy to be in another final."
Williams beat Hingis in Warsaw two weeks ago and looked like she was on her way to another victory with a first-set shutout that lasted just 22 minutes.
"In the first set, I felt like I was going to cry. I was just missing every shot," Hingis said.
"I feel like I have to do more against a player like her. That's the respect we have for each other. It's a long rivalry," Hingis added. "I told her I prefer playing other players."
After Hingis held serve to even the second set at 1-1 and finally win a game, the crowd applauded sarcastically.
Hingis broke serve next game when Williams hit a forehand long, and broke twice more to take the set.
"I started to keep the ball in play, get some serves in. I just tried to make her move, not give her too many angles," Hingis said.
Both players held serve until Hingis broke to lead 5-3 in the third, then served out the match.
Williams said she needed to cut down on her errors, and that she has "nothing to show and nothing to prove" at the French Open.
"I just have to go out there and work just as hard as the next person, that's what it takes," Williams said. "I feel like I've done that before at the French and I just kind of lost to that other Williams sister. That happens."
Venus Williams lost to sister Serena in the 2002 Roland Garros final.
Safina - the younger sister of two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin - took 2 hours, 33 minutes to beat Kuznetsova.
"I didn't expect it when I saw the draw here and (second-seeded Kim) Clijsters in the third round, but I beat her, then I beat (fifth-seeded Elena) Dementieva," the 16th-seeded Safina said. "All my dreams are coming true."
Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion who was seeded seventh, won five straight games to close out the first set after falling 3-1 down.
After trading early breaks in the second set, Safina lined up a service return winner to go up 5-4, then held serve with a backhand winner up the line to conclude a long rally on her first set point.
Safina served for the match twice in the final set. On her first opportunity, she double faulted to hand Kuznetsova a break and draw even to 5-5.
Safina then broke back and served out the match at love. "It was really a battle. In the second set I was down and I just said to myself, 'play point by point,' and it went my way today," Safina said.
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